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NATIONAL GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY INSTITUTE (NGPI) "SPECIAL TOPICS" CONFERENCES |
Diversity in Groups: The Other in Me Co-Chairs: Reginald Nettles, PhD, CGP, Steven Van Wagoner, PhD, CGP, AGPA-F, Ayana Watkins-Northern, PhD, CGP, AGPA-F (Co-sponsored by NWSP’s Center for Race, Ethnicity and Culture) Date: November 8-9, 2024 Time: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM on Friday, November 8th and 8:00 AM - 5:15 PM on Saturday, November 9th, 2024 Location: Friends Meeting House of Washington, 2111 Decatur Pl NW, Washington, DC 20008, In-Person Only 11.75 CEs Program Description: Based on the pioneering concepts of Harry Stack Sullivan, this conference will focus on the presence and impact of difference and unconscious bias in therapy groups. We will introduce the concept of intersectionality and pay special attention to the process of “othering”, exploring ways to foster cohesion and interpersonal connection between members and between members and leaders by embracing differences and intervening when prejudice and microaggressions arise. Experiential learning is a hallmark of the weekend. In addition to participating in interactive plenaries, participants will be assigned to a small, here-and-now-centered process group that will meet 4 times over two days. The entire student membership also takes part in three facilitated large groups, which are uniquely powerful in highlighting the impact of identity and social forces (e.g., power, privilege and prejudice) on group dynamics. Overall, our aim is to build a skilled and aware community of group therapists and contribute to a broader dialogue of hope, healing, and growth. Learning Objectives:
Conference Fee Conference rate of $450.00 for both days.
Schedule and Faculty Click here to download the Conference schedule and Conference staff. Click here for Accreditation Statement and AMEDCO Continuing Education Certification |
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PEACE & CONFLICT, POWER & PRIVILEGE: CO-EXISTING IN THE FACE OF DIFFERENCE AND TRAUMA A REFLECTIVE CITIZENS ADAPTED EVENT Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024 Time: 9am – 4:30pm Location: 2111 Decatur Pl. NW, Washington, DC 20008 (Friends Meeting of Washington) 5.5 CEs offered There are more than 110 armed conflicts among various groups worldwide, fueled by interwoven dynamics of survival, power, privilege, identity, domination, and subjugation. In the face of such overwhelming complexity, emotion, and sensation, it can be tempting to simplify and find comfort by taking sides. Yet, viewing one group as right and the other as wrong can often intensify societal fractures and deepen rifts already existing within. Through the lenses of intergenerational and chosen trauma, intersectionality, and psychodynamic and large group theories, this community event will use social dreaming, large group process and small group reflection to examine the underlying forces spurring and sustaining global violence, oppression and communal trauma. An adapted Reflective Citizens methodology developed by Serbian colleagues Dr. Marina Mojović and Dr. Jelena Satarić will be utilized to cultivate awareness, hold intercultural complexity, and counter unconscious codes of superiority in the face of competing experiences of terror, righteousness, rage, conviction, strength and despair. This event will include social dreaming and facilitated large and small group experiences to bring forth and contain the personal and collective traumas resonating in and between each of us. ABOUT REFLECTIVE CITIZENS (RC) EVENTS: The RC model was first developed by Serbian psychiatrists who offered these large group events during the Belgrade Peace Protests of the "Horrible Nineties". Grounded in the psychoanalytic traditions of psychoanalysis, group analysis, group relations, and social dreaming, a "Reflective Citizens" event aspires to co-create a mindful large group space, with and for global citizens, to enable free sharing of thoughts, feelings, fantasies, dreams, and hypotheses. Ideally, it offers a space where we learn to listen and where we are heard, where we reflect together on responsible citizenship in the face of the profound social changes that are taking place in the present and will impact our collective future. RC aims to open minds to a variety of discourses and paradigms to make the unconscious ‘beneath the surface’ of our global communities visible. |
Kavita Avula, PsyD, CGP Kavita Avula, PsyD, CGP is an Indian-American licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma, international psychology, unconscious bias, and large group dynamics. For decades, Dr. Avula has served as a thought leader and partner to humanitarian and human rights organizations. She has traveled to four continents to facilitate healing and recovery in the face of war and natural disasters. She founded Therapist Beyond Borders, a boutique consulting firm that offers conflict resolution and facilitates culture change at institutions that know they are stuck. She dedicates a portion of her time to serving the Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BBIPOC) community and offered the first ever BBIPOC Institute at AGPA. Dr. Avula was former President of the Puget Sound Group Psychotherapy Network and has been a featured speaker at conferences nationally. When she is not facilitating a group, she can be found traveling with her family, hiking, or on a tennis court. kavi.avula@gmail.com
Read an interview with Dr. Avula about the upcoming conference Conference Committee Kavita Avula, PsyD, CGP – Conference Chair Robert Schulte, MSW, CGP Rosemary Segalla, Phd, ABPP, CGP, AGPA-F Jonathan Stillerman, PhD, CGP Ayana Watkins-Northern, PhD, CGP, AGPA-F |
